


Valentines

by mandraco



Series: Corkboard 'Verse [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Chocolate, F/M, Gen, Lost Year, Pie, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-14
Updated: 2013-02-14
Packaged: 2017-11-29 06:10:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/683734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mandraco/pseuds/mandraco
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for Valentine's Day and <a href="http://spn-bigpretzel.livejournal.com/profile"><img class="i-ljuser-userhead"/></a><a class="i-ljuser-username" href="http://spn-bigpretzel.livejournal.com/"></a><b>spn_bigpretzel</b>'s OTP fortnight.<br/>In which Dean and Ben prepare for Valentine's Day together. Or how a recipe for "<a href="http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/eggplant-pasta-salad-10000001630028/">Eggplant Pasta Salad</a>" ended up on the Braedens' corkboard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Valentines

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, there really was a recipe for Eggplant Pasta Salad on the corkboard. Would I lie to you about such a thing?

"And I need you to take Ben to the store to buy valentines," Lisa tacked on to the end of their usual in bed morning together time.

"Valentines?"

"You know, little cards, maybe a piece of candy for everyone in his class. Valentine's Day is on Monday. I have to work this weekend, so you have to take Ben or he won't have anything for the other kids."

Dean couldn't remember the last time he'd thought about buying someone a valentine. "Isn't buying valentines for everyone kind of...?" Dean trailed off as he realised finishing that sentence could be dangerous. Awesome as she was, Lisa was still a woman and into all that girly crap.

"Sweet?" Lisa suggested with a grin. "Adorable? Contributing to our country's growing obesity problem?"

"The last one, definitely," said Dean.

"Don't worry Dean," Lisa said as she got out of bed and stretched. "I don't expect you to get me anything."

Too focused on the sway of her hips, Dean's mind didn't catch up until she was out of the room. "Hey!" Lisa wasn't expecting anything? Well Dean was going to blow her mind.

 

x x x

Dean cringed as he walked through the card store with Ben. Every single tiny piece in the place was overpriced. But Ben had insisted that this was the best place to find the kind of valentines he wanted to buy. Dean was busy trying not to suffocate underneath all the pink before he could find them.

"Come on, Ben, how hard can it be to pick a generic piece of cardboard?"

Ben held up two packages of cards. In his left hand were cards with guitars and album covers and song lyrics on them. In his right hand were cards each featuring a photograph of a classic car in pristine condition. Dean could see his dilemma.

"Get both," Dean said decisively. "Music for the girls. Cars for the guys."

"I can't afford both and still have enough money left to buy candy," said Ben.

Dean reached into his wallet and handed Ben a twenty. Anything to get him out of here sooner.

  
x x x

  
Ben had wanted to grab candy sweethearts from the grocery store, but if Dean was doing this Valentine's thing, he was doing it correctly. So they were in the fancy chocolate store going through way too many samples. Dean's pretty sure he wouldn't have been able to get away with it if the girl at the counter wasn't a girl obviously enamoured of the hot guy with a kid. Even if he was buying chocolate for his... girlfriend.

Girlfriend was an inadequate word for what Lisa was to him, but he couldn't exactly call her the woman who was saving his life by putting up with him and his crap and letting him hang out with the kid. Lisa deserved more than a Hallmark card and a dozen long stemmed roses. Hell, she even deserved more than the most expensive handmade chocolates in town.

Dean let Ben buy whatever the hell he felt like-- Ben was more focused on the shapes than the actual taste of the chocolates themselves-- and bought a dozen nutty chocolate truffles for himself.

"I don't think mom likes those ones that much," said Ben. "She likes the cherry ones."

"Then it's a good thing these are for me."

"Dude." Ben crossed his arms and frowned at Dean. "You're awesome, but you can't cheap out on my mom like that."

"Relax, Ben. I've got it covered." Or he would, anyway. Once he figured out what was better than roses and chocolate.

"You'd better."

"C'mon," Dean said. "Let's go grab some groceries."

  
x x x

  
It hit Dean when they were in the health food aisle buying gluten-free pasta and quinoa for Lisa. Grocery shopping was something Dean tried to avoid as often as possible because it reminded him way too much of Sam. Today with Ben the ache was eased. He would always miss Sam, but it wasn't going to stop him from buying the healthy shit for healthy shits he had to buy.

"I hate quin-oh-a," Ben grumbled.

"It's good for you," said Dean, though he agreed. Quinoa was not anywhere near his favourite foods list. It wasn't even pronounced correctly. How was he supposed to get "keenwa" out of that? But though Lisa could bake like Martha Stewart and chow down on a burger with the best of them, she was also a health food freak the rest of the time.

"I'll eat it without complaining if you get the regular pasta and pretend it was an accident."

"Sorry buddy," said Dean. "There's no way I'm getting into that with your mom again." Dean had made an honest mistake the first time he'd brought home the wrong pasta, and he had been subjected to an hour long lecture on the evils of gluten, and to a lesser extent, wheat. "You know she just wants what's best for you."

Ben rolled his eyes. "Moms."

"Hey," said Dean. "Show a little respect."

"You're the one who isn't getting her anything for Valentine's Day."

"I am," protested Dean. "It's going to knock her socks off."

"Eww," said Ben, crinkling his nose. "I don't want to know."

"Get your mind out of the gutter." To make room for Dean's.

Dean reached down and placed the penne into the cart. Sometimes he wondered how this was his life. Taking a kid to the grocery store and buying so much food and household supplies (there were tampons in there!) that he actually needed to push a cart around. It would be better with Sam, but these days Dean would take what he could get. It was enough to know the world wasn't falling down around his ears. It had to be.

Dean concentrated on the pasta. Penne was Lisa's favourite. None of the drama of spaghetti. More substance than fusilli (which was Dean's favourite purely because of its name). Lisa preferred lighter, olive oil based sauces but she liked tomatoes, too. Dean was fond of anything with meat in it. Ben was the same way. Lisa's penne bolognese was probably the unhealthiest thing they ever ate inside the house. (Even moreso than burgers, which Lisa always managed to stuff vegetables into, as well as surrounding them and removing the dreaded wheat bun.)

As Ben continued to voice his distaste for all things healthy, Dean figured out what the perfect thing for Lisa's Valentine's Day surprise would be. If he could only get Ben on board with the plan.

  
x x x

  
When Ben came home from school on Valentine's Day, he and Dean spent the first half of the afternoon going over his Valentine's loot as though it was Halloween. Ben mostly ignored the cards ("None were as cool as mine.") and most of the candy ("Thanks for taking me to the chocolate shop. All the girls screamed when they saw them.") in favour of the non-candy alternatives the more health-conscious parents sent their kids to school with ("Some lame-ass stickers. A yo-yo. I don't know why she thought I'd want a dried flower.").

"Erica Barnes gave me two heart shaped suckers instead of just the one. She told me not to tell anyone else because they'd be jealous."

"Sweet," said Dean, high-fiving Ben.

"That's not all," said Ben. "Jessica Ellis gave me this." Ben pulled a gigantic chocolate heart from behind his back and showed it to Dean.

"I have to say, little dude, I'm going to have to go with Miss Ellis. The bigger, the better. And more food is always the way to man's stomach."

"That's too bad," said Ben. "I was going to give you one of Erica's suckers. Now, I'm gonna give it to mom instead."

"Well played, sir. Well played."

  
x x x

  
Dean sent Ben up to his room to do his homework while he started getting dinner ready. Instead of going for one of those couples massages Dean didn't think he'd be able to stand, he'd sent Lisa and a friend to the spa for the evening, and Lisa probably thought that was the extent of his Valentine's Day thoughtfulness.

Dean was cooking dinner tonight. The main, anyway. He'd decided not to make dessert. Pretty much every dessert ever was an insult to Lisa's bitter orange crostata so it might be better to go without, but Dean had reasoned that Valentine's Day wasn't just about Lisa, it was about him, too. So he'd gone ahead and ordered the largest cherry pie he could. And the appetiser was just a bunch of stinky cheeses and crackers. But there was garlic bread (the wheaty, gluteny kind of Ben), and for the main, Dean's attempt at Lisa's favourite pasta dish: Eggplant Pasta Salad.

Ben was under strict instructions not to complain about any of the food, to compliment his mother, and to dress up for dinner. Ben had however, absolutely refused to coordinate his outfit with Dean's. That was fair enough. Dean didn't exactly like the idea of Ben dressing up the way he did, even though Dean knew it was something Lisa would find amusing. She'd almost succeeded one time when they went to dinner with Lisa's parents, but Ben had 'accidentally' dripped toothpaste on his shirt.

Just as Lisa's car pulled into the driveway, Dean called Ben down to keep an eye on the garlic bread in the oven while he went upstairs to change his shirt. Ben was wearing a blue button-up over his best jeans, and Dean changed into a matching shirt, wondering when he'd become so whipped. No, he wasn't whipped. It was only that Lisa had set the bar so low that he was trying so hard to please her. His pride was at stake.

The disgruntled look on Ben's face only enhanced the amused laugh that escaped Lisa when she saw the two of them together. Dean walked over and kissed her (to Ben's further disgust). "Happy Valentine's Day."

"Happy Valentine's Day."

"You look nice," said Ben, getting in a compliment.

"Why thank you," said Lisa, hugging Ben too.

  
x x x

  
The table was set with candles, and Dean pulled Lisa's chair out for her. The conversation was light and fun, and even apart from it being Valentine's Day, Dean was really enjoying himself. Especially when Lisa took a bite of her eggplant pasta salad and moaned in delight.

"Dean!" she said with genuine appreciation written all over her face. "This is delicious."

"It's not bad," said Ben. That was the least he could say, so Dean knew he actually hated it.

"I'm glad you like it," said Dean. He'd gotten the recipe off the Internet and you really couldn't trust that place most of the time. People like Becky thrived there.

"I love it," said Lisa, digging in. "This one's going on the corkboard."

"Oh really?" said Dean, raising an eyebrow.

"Yup. Right next to a picture of the two of you in your matching shirts."

Ben took the opportunity to spill his soda down his front. "Oops," he said. "May I be excused?"

"If you don't come back you don't get any pie," said Dean.

"I'll live," said Ben, setting aside his napkin and retreating upstairs.

"Now that the kid's gone," said Lisa, pulling Dean's wineglass from his hand and setting it farther away. "I can show you just how much I appreciate your cooking."

Lisa straddled Dean's lap and kissed him with more than a little tongue involved.

"If I didn't know better," said Dean, settling his hands around her hips. "I'd say you planned all that to seduce me."

Lisa smirked. "Well, I guess you'll never know."

They didn't get around to eating the pie until long after midnight.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Last year's Dean/Lisa Valentine's Day Fic: [Walk On By](http://mandraco.livejournal.com/8117.html)  
> ...apparently I'm turning this into a tradition.
> 
>  


End file.
